Topical Sentences

Content

• Examples of topical sentences
• Characteristics of topical sentences
• Where do topical sentences appear?
• Other types of prayers

In works of a narrative or descriptive nature, the paragraphs gather a variable number of sentences that are arranged in a certain order and fulfill a certain role within the discourse. In this sense, a distinction is often made between:

• Topical sentences.They explain the full meaning of the statement.
• Secondary sentences. They have an accessory function, which details something about the subject.

Many authors consider that this division fulfills a more didactic function than a functional one for grammar, and circulates more than anything in the educational field, since it fundamentally helps the comprehension of texts.

Examples of topical sentences

1. The death of this film director is the death of a genius of creative innovation.
2. The team was made up of a sum of stars.
3. What follows is a difficult story to understand.
4. In the place there was a very tense climate.
5. The lack of foreign exchange worries the entire economic team.
6. My teammates are the best.
7. The City of Buenos Aires seems to be always awake.
8. A family argument ended in tragedy.
9. The effects of the Cuban revolution were felt throughout the continent.
10. Man wanted to go into space his entire existence.
11. The risks of smoking are staggering.
12. The performance of the band was wonderful.
13. Words sometimes turn against.
14. I will never forget the afternoons at my grandparents' house.
15. There is no city in the world like Barcelona.
16. Bacteria have some unique characteristics.
17. Everything seems to indicate that there will be no increase for teachers.
18. In conclusion, don't count on me this time.
19. Negotiations with creditors are at a standstill.
20. Not all the past was better.

Characteristics of topical sentences

Topical sentences are supposed to provide complete information as to what the paragraph means, although this is almost never quite the case, and sentences are added for some reason.

However, in some cases it becomes relatively easy to identify a topical sentence. Entirely descriptive paragraphs (of personal or historical circumstances, for example), often begin with a sentence that summarizes everything that is going to be discussed: if the first sentence of a paragraph is 'I will never forget the streets of my neighborhood' Surely all that follows is a description of what those streets were like.

While if a historical text begins with "The stock market crash produced terrible consequences for the entire population," it is not risky to say that what follows will be a list of the ailments of those affected.

Topical sentences are frequent in journalistic discourse since the journalistic editor considers it likely that the reader will not stop to read the full text, so it is vital to convey the central idea at first, without further ado.

It is for this same reason that a journalistic story cannot be conceived without a title, which is what everyone looks at before entering the body of the text and which almost always acts as a filter, which will induce to continue reading or not.

Where do topical sentences appear?

Almost all paragraphs of informational texts begin with a topical sentence, which advances what will be explained below. A sentence like 'In the morning, the ministers awaited the president's speech'It can precede a quote from what one of the ministers said.

However, it should be noted that topical sentences do not always appear at the beginning of paragraphs: they also tend to appear at the end and, much less frequently, in the middle. When you want to notice the arrival of a topical sentence that will close the paragraph, connectors of the type 'summarizing', 'basically', 'in conclusion' are usually applied.

It can serve you:

• Sentences with conclusive connectors
• Sentences with summary connectors

Other types of prayers